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SkySat 1, 2

SkySat-1 and 2 are commercial Earth observation satellites by Skybox Imaging, licensed to collect high resolution panchromatic and multispectral images of the earth. The satellites operate in a polar inclined, circular orbit at approximately 450 km above the earth.

Skybox becomes only the fifth organization licensed to provide high resolution space-based imagery of Earth.

The first two satellite prototypes without propulsion were built by Skybox Imaging in house. The first satellite was launched in 2013 on a cluster launch on a Dnepr rocket. The second identical satellite was launched as a secondary payload on a Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M launch in 2014.

Each SkySat satellite is equipped with a Ritchey-Chretien Cassegrain telescope with a focal length of 3.6 m, and a focal plane consisting of three 5.5 Mpixel CMOS imaging detectors. SkySat-1 and -2 use 3 CMOS frame detectors with a size of 2560 × 2160 pixels and a pixel size of 6.5 µm. The operational satellites have a higher resolution detector. The upper half of the detector is used for panchromatic capture, the lower half is divided into 4 stripes covered with blue, green, red and near infra-red color filters. The native resolution at nadir of the SkySat-1 and SkySat-2 is around 1.1 m. Further satellites will be placed in lower orbits, leading to increased image resolution.

Thirteen more improved satellites with propulsion modules are being built by SS/Loral using a Skybox-licensed design. One of these will launch in 2015 on a Dnepr rocket. Six more will be launched on an Orbital built Minotaur-C-3210 rocket in early 2017.

Google announced in March 2016 that Skybox Imaging had changed its name to "Terra Bella".